Voltammetry of Osmium End‐Labeled Oligodeoxynucleotides at Carbon,Mercury, and Gold Electrodes

Voltammetric behavior of oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) 5′‐T₄₀ (GAA)₇–3′ end‐labeled with osmium tetroxide,2,2‐bipyridine [Os(VIII)bipy] was compared with Os(VIII)bipy‐base‐ and with Os(VI)bipy‐sugar‐modified thymine ribosides. Cyclic voltammograms of Os(VIII)bipy‐modified ODN at mercury and carbon electrodes were similar but not identical to those of Os(VIII)bipy‐modified thymine riboside. Treatment of the ODN with Os(VI)bipy did not result in the ODN modification, in agreement with the known specificity of the reagent to the sugar cis‐diols. We show that in addition to mercury and carbon electrodes, the gold electrode can be used to detect Os(VIII)bipy‐labeled ODN. Comparison of voltammetric behavior of end‐labeled ODN using three types of electrodes most frequently used in DNA analysis may help to optimize electrochemical DNA sensors.     

Electrodeposition of Silver Amalgam on Thin Gold Film Electrodes for Voltammetric Detection of 4‐Nitrophenol and DNA Labeled with Osmium Tetroxide‐Bipyridine Complex

Alternative electrode materials suitable to prepare novel working electrode applicable in detecting biopolymers such as nucleic acids, proteins or glycoproteins, represent a significant contribution to bio‐electroanalysis. Herein, electrodes made of vapor‐deposited thin gold films (vAuE) were used as an alternative substrate for the electrodeposition of silver amalgam particles (AgAPs), next to indium tin oxide and pyrolytic graphite, which are already used. The conditions and parameters of double pulse chronoamperometry were optimized for the most‐sensitive voltammetric detection of 4‐nitrophenol (4‐NP). The resulting electrodes were characterized by scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy. While 4‐NP could not be detected by bare nonactivated vAuEs at all, their electrochemical activation offered a limit of detection (LoD) of 25 and 5 μmol.l^?1 by means of CV and DPV, respectively. AgAP electrodeposited on vAuE, offered 2.5‐times lower LoDs 10 μmol.l^?1 by CV and comparable LoD 5 μmol.l^?1 by DPV. Advantageously, AgAPs could be repeatedly deposited on and anodically dissolved from the vAuE with a relative standard deviation 13 % of the ten‐times repeated DPV signal of 4‐NP (100 μmol.l^?1). In comparison to vAuE, the vAuE‐AgAP offered about 400 mV broader potential window, which allowed detection of single strand DNA fragment labeled by osmium tetroxide?bipyridine complex down to 2 ng.μl^?1 by means of DPV.     

Voltammetric Determination of 4‐Nitrophenol and 5‐Nitrobenzimidazole Using Different Types of Silver Solid Amalgam Electrodes – A Comparative Study

The voltammetric behavior of two genotoxic nitro compounds (4‐nitrophenol and 5‐nitrobenzimidazole) has been investigated using direct current voltammetry (DCV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) at a polished silver solid amalgam electrode (p‐AgSAE), a mercury meniscus modified silver solid amalgam electrode (m‐AgSAE), and a mercury film modified silver solid amalgam electrode (MF‐AgSAE). The optimum conditions have been evaluated for their determination in Britton‐Robinson buffer solutions. The limit of quantification (L_Q) for 5‐nitrobenzimidazole at p‐AgSAE was 0.77 µmol L^?1 (DCV) and 0.47 µmol L^?1 (DPV), at m‐AgSAE it was 0.32 µmol L^?1 (DCV) and 0.16 µmol L^?1 (DPV), and at MF‐AgSAE it was 0.97 µmol L^?1 (DCV) and 0.70 µmol L^?1 (DPV). For 4‐nitrophenol at p‐AgSAE, L_Q was 0.37 µmol L^?1 (DCV) and 0.32 µmol L^?1 (DPV), at m‐AgSAE it was 0.14 µmol L^?1 (DCV) and 0.1 µmol L^?1 (DPV), and at MF‐AgSAE, it was 0.87 µmol L^?1 (DCV) and 0.37 µmol L^?1 (DPV). Thorough comparative studies have shown that m‐AgSAE is the best sensor for voltammetric determination of the two model genotoxic compounds because it gives the lowest L_Q, is easier to prepare, and its surface can be easily renewed both chemically (by new amalgamation) and/or electrochemically (by imposition of cleaning pulses). The practical applicability of the newly developed methods was verified on model samples of drinking water.     

Hybridization Detection of Osmium Tetroxide Bipyridine‐Labeled DNA and RNA on Heated Gold Wire Electrodes

We report about hybridization detection of different nucleic acids on capture probe‐modified heated gold wire electrodes. We have compared three kinds of nucleic acid targets: DNA, uracil‐conjugated DNA, and RNA. All three sorts of nucleic acids targets could be labeled with osmium tetroxide bipyridine, hybridized with immobilized DNA capture probes and then detected by square‐wave voltammetry. Heating the gold electrode instead of the entire bulk hybridization solution leads to improved hybridization efficiency in most cases. The reason could be found in a thermal micro‐stirring effect around the heated wire electrode. Also selectivity was improved. Mismatches could be discriminated for DNA and uracil‐conjugated DNA targets. Mismatches in RNA strands, however, are more difficult to detect due to relatively stable secondary structures.     

Voltammetric Studies of Cadmium‐ and Zinc‐Containing Metallothioneins at Nafion‐Coated Mercury Thin Film Electrodes

Voltammetric studies of rabbit liver metallothioneins (MTs, containing both Zn and Cd ions) and Zn₇‐MT were carried out at Nafion‐coated mercury film electrodes (NCMFEs). The accumulation of MT molecules into the NCMFEs enhances the voltammetric signals and the electrostatic interaction between the Nafion membrane and MT facilitates facile electron transfer reactions. Two well‐defined redox waves, with reduction potential (E_pc) values at ?0.740 and ?1.173 V, respectively, were observed. The peak at E_pc =?0.740 V is attributable to the reduction of the Cd‐MT complex, whereas that at E_pc=?1.173 V was assigned to the reduction of the Zn‐MT complex. Zn₇‐MT exhibits only one redox wave with E_pc=?1.198 V. The NCMFE was found to be more advantageous than thin mercury film electrode (MFE), because the pristine metal ions in MTs (e.g., Cd²⁺ and/or Zn²⁺) are not significantly replaced by Hg²⁺. The NCMFE is also complementary to Nafion‐coated bismuth film electrode in that it has a greater hydrogen overpotential, which allows the reduction of the Zn‐MT complex to be clearly observed. Moreover, intermetallic compound formation between Cd and Zn appears to be less serious at NCMFEs. Consequently, the amounts of Cd and Zn deposited into the electrode upon the reduction reactions can be quantified more accurately.     

Voltammetric Determination of Trace Amounts of 2‐Methyl‐4,6‐Dinitrophenol at a Silver Solid Amalgam Electrode

The voltammetric behavior of 2‐methyl‐4,6‐dinitrophenol was investigated by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) at a nontoxic mercury meniscus‐modified silver solid amalgam electrode (m‐AgSAE). Conditions have been found for its determination by DPV at m‐AgSAE in the concentration range of 0.2 to 1 μmol L^?1.     

Voltammetric Determination of Acibenzolar‐S‐Methyl Using a Renewable Silver Amalgam Film Electrode

Acibenzolar‐S‐methyl (ASM) is a novel fungicide applied for crop protection. A renewable silver amalgam film electrode was used for the determination of ASM in pH 3.4 Britton? Robinson buffer using square wave adsorptive stripping voltammetry (SW AdSV). The parameters of the method were optimized. The electroanalytical procedure made possible to determine ASM in the concentration range of 5×10^?8–3×10^?7 mol L^?1 (LOD=4.86×10^?9, LOQ=1.62×10^?8 mol L^?1). The effect of common interfering pesticides and heavy metal ions was checked. The validated method was applied in ASM determination in spiked water samples.     

Voltammetric Determination of N,N‐Dimethyl‐4‐amine‐carboxyazobenzene at a Silver Solid Amalgam Electrode

The voltammetric behavior of N,N‐dimethyl‐4‐amino‐2′‐carboxyazobenzene was investigated by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) at a mercury meniscus‐modified silver solid amalgam electrode (m‐AgSAE). Conditions have been found for its determination by DPV at m‐AgSAE in the concentration range of 0.4 to 15 μmol L^?1.     

Voltammetric Determination of 4‐Nitrophenol Using a Novel Type of Silver Amalgam Paste Electrode

A differential pulse voltammetric (DPV) method was developed for the determination of 4‐nitrophenol (4‐NP) at a newly developed silver amalgam paste electrode (AgA‐PE) in Britton–Robinson buffer pH 3.0. The electrode is based on a disposable plastic pipette tip filled with paste amalgam based on a mixture of mercury and fine silver powder (9 : 1, w/w). The experimental parameters, such as pH of Britton–Robinson buffer and activation and regeneration potential of the electrode surface were optimized. The reduction peak current dependences were linear for the concentration of 4‐NP from 0.2 to 100 μM. The method showed reproducible results with RSD (n=45) of 1.7%. The limit of determination (LOD) was 0.3 μM. The method was successfully applied for the direct determination of 4‐NP in drinking water.     

Renewable Silver‐Amalgam Film Electrode for Rapid Square‐Wave Voltammetric Determination of Thiamethoxam Insecticide in Selected Samples

The paper presents the use of a renewable silver‐amalgam film electrode (Hg(Ag)FE) for the determination of the insecticide thiamethoxam (TMO) in Britton‐Robinson buffer pH 7.0 (LOD=0.25 µg mL^?1, LOQ=0.70 µg mL^?1) by direct cathodic square‐wave voltammetry (SWV). The voltammetric response for TMO obtained at this electrode was the same as that obtained with a hanging mercury drop electrode, represented by two distinct reduction peaks. Since the electron transfer processes are coupled with chemical reactions involving protons, the SWV signals strongly depend on the pH of the supporting electrolyte. The developed Hg(Ag)FE‐SWV method was tested for the determination of TMO in spiked honey and river water samples, as well as for the determination of its content in the commercial formulation Actara 25 WG.     

Voltammetric Study of Methylene Blue at Thiol SAMs‐Modified Gold Electrodes

The voltammetric behavior of methylene blue (MB) at thiol self‐assembled monolayers modified gold electrodes (SAMs/Au) has been investigated. MB exhibited a redox peak at about ?0.35 V (vs.SCE) in alkaline solution at bare gold electrodes. When the gold electrodes were modified with thiol SAMs, the peak grew due to the accumulation of MB at SAMs. With the solution pH rising, more MB was accumulated, hence the peak height increased, which differed from that at bare gold electrodes. The electrode process at SAMs/Au featured the characteristics of adsorption and/or electrode reaction controlled. The enhancing action of glutathione monolayer (GSH SAM), 3‐mercaptopropionic acid monolayer (3MPA SAM) and other thiol SAMs was compared. Among these, GSH SAM made the MB peak increase more. At GSH SAM/Au, the peak height varied linearly with MB concentration over the range of 2 μM to 400 μM. So this can be developed for the determination of MB and studies concerned. The accumulation behavior caused by GSH SAM and native fish sperm dsDNA was compared. The interaction between DNA and MB was also discussed under this condition.     

Electrochemistry of Nucleic Acids at Solid Electrodes and Its Applications

The knowledge of the redox chemistry of nucleic acids (NA) is of paramount importance in cancer and aging research. Charge migration through DNA is also involved in biologically relevant functions such as DNA damage and repair. In the first part of this article the main aspects of the electrochemistry of nucleic acids at solid electrodes are revised, including redox processes, photoelectroactivity and electrical conductivity. In the second part, an overview of its applications is presented. Methods for electrochemical detection of NA, NA‐based biosensors for detection of nonnucleic acid molecules, studies on the nature and dynamics of interactions and structural conformations of NA, are some applications that take advantage of NA electrochemistry at solid electrodes.     

Voltammetric Determination of Surface‐Confined Biomolecules with N‐(2‐Ethyl‐ferrocene)maleimide

A thiol‐specific electroactive cross‐linker, N‐(2‐ethyl‐ferrocene)maleimide (Fc‐Mi), has been used to tag surface‐confined peptides containing cysteine residues or oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) whose 3′ ends have been modified with thiol groups. The peptides studied herein include both the oxidized and reduced forms of glutathione and a hexapeptide. Cyclic voltammograms (CVs) of the Fc‐Mi groups attached to the surfaces were used to quantify the total number of cysteine residues that are tagged and/or can undergo facile electron transfer reactions with the underlying electrodes. A quartz crystal microbalance was used in conjunction with CV to estimate the total number of cysteine groups labeled by Fc‐Mi per peptide molecule. By comparing to mass spectrometric studies, it is confirmed that not all of the Fc‐Mi linked to the cysteine groups can participate in the electron transfer reactions. The methodology is further extended to the determination of ODN samples in a sandwich assay wherein the thiol linker on the 3′ end can be tagged with Fc‐Mi. The analytical performance was evaluated through determinations of a complementary ODN target and targets with varying numbers of mismatching bases. ODN samples as low as 10 fmol can be detected. Such a low detection level is remarkable considering that no signal amplification scheme is involved in the current method. The approach is shown to be sequence‐ and/or structure‐specific and does not require sophisticated instrumentation and complex experimental procedure.     

Electrochemical Behavior of o‐Nitrophenol at Hexagonal Mesoporous Silica Modified Carbon Paste Electrodes

A hexagonal mesoporous silica (HMS) modified carbon paste electrode (CPE) was fabricated and characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) methods (ferrocene as a probe). The electrochemical behavior of nitrophenol (o‐NP) at the HMS modified electrode (HMSCPE) was investigated. Compared with CPE, a well‐defined reduction peak and a remarkably peak current response was observed. It is indicated that mesoporous HMS exhibited remarkable enhancement effects on the electrochemical reduction of o‐NP. The electrochemical reduction mechanism was also discussed. Consequently, a simple and sensitive electrochemical method was proposed for the determination of o‐NP, which was used to determine o‐NP in waste water samples.     

Catalysis of Hydrogen Evolution by Polylysine,Polyarginine and Polyhistidine at Mercury Electrodes

Protein catalyzed hydrogen evolution reaction at mercury‐containing electrodes controlled by constant‐current chronopotentiometric stripping (CPS) is representing a new tool useful in protein research. The resulting CPS peak H is sensitive to changes in the protein structure and its amino acid composition. Besides CPS, cyclic voltammetry appears to be useful for study of poly(amino acids) as an intermediate model system between peptides and macromolecular proteins. Here we show that similarly as arginine in polyarginine and lysine in polylysine also histidine residues in polyhistidine contribute to the catalysis of hydrogen evolution under the given conditions. Peak potentials of individual poly(amino acids) are different and depend on the type of amino acid residues.     

Label‐Free and Label Based Electrochemical Detection of Hybridization by Using Methylene Blue and Peptide Nucleic Acid Probes at Chitosan Modified Carbon Paste Electrodes

A chitosan modified carbon paste electrode (ChiCPE) based DNA biosensor for the recognition of calf thymus double stranded DNA (dsDNA), single stranded DNA (ssDNA) and hybridization detection between complementary DNA oligonucleotides is presented. DNA and oligonucleotides were electrostatically attached by using chitosan onto CPE. The amino groups of chitosan formed a strong complex with the phosphate backbone of DNA. The immobilized probe could selectively hybridize with the target DNA to form hybrid on the CPE surface. The detection of hybridization was observed by using the label‐free and label based protocols. The oxidation signals of guanine and adenine greatly decreased when a hybrid was formed on the ChiCPE surface. The changes in the peak currents of methylene blue (MB), an electroactive label, were observed upon hybridization of probe with target. The signals of MB were investigated at dsDNA modified ChiCPE and ssDNA modified ChiCPE and the increased peak currents were observed, in respect to the order of electrodes. The hybridization of peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probes with the DNA target sequences at ChiCPE was also investigated. Performance characteristics of the sensor were described, along with future prospects.     

Application of Non‐Stop‐Flow Differential Pulse Voltammetry at a Tubular Detector of Silver Solid Amalgam for Electrochemical Determination of Lomustine (CCNU)

An application of the flow differential pulse voltammetry with tubular detector based on silver solid amalgam for determination of antineoplastic drug lomustine in pharmaceutical preparations is presented. The highest sensitivity was obtained in [0.10 mol dm^?3 MES; 2.00 mol dm^?3 NaCl; pH 6.0]:EtOH (9 : 1) with flow rate 0.50 mL min^?1, and the magnitude of the modulation amplitude ?0.070 V. The calibration dependence was linear in the range 1×10^?6–1 × 10^?4 mol dm^?3 (R²=0.999). The limit of detection was 1.5×10^?7 mol dm^?3. This method was successfully used for determination of lomustine in real samples of chemotherapy drug CeeNU Lomustine 40 mg.     

Direct DNA Hybridization on the Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes Modified Sensors Detected by Voltammetry and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy

Carboxylic acid functionalized single‐walled carbon nanotubes modified graphite sensors (SWCNT‐PGEs) were developed for electrochemical monitoring of direct DNA hybridization related to specific sequence of Hepatitis B virus, which substantially enhance the electrochemical transduction resulting from guanine oxidation signal comparison to bare PGEs. The performance characteristics of DNA hybridization on disposable CNT‐PGE were explored measuring the guanine signal in terms of optimum analytical conditions; probe and target concentration, hybridization time, and selectivity. The voltammetric results were also complemented with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), that was used to characterize the successful construction of carbon nanotubes modification onto the surface of PGEs.